Thursday, January 7, 2010

my heart told my head, this time no, this time no

london remains. the london of my dreams, of my trembling knees and chapped lips puckered up for a kiss hello. of that sticky-floored bar with the smiths and of that cigarette outside, wrapped in tweed and a forlorn gaze. of the dry wit of friends and humorous introductions from drunk strangers. of music so young and so old at the same time.

presents wrapped in red and gold paper on a cold morning, slipping on iced-over pavement and running after the last bus, eating kebabs impatiently and guffawing through full mouths. christmas dinner and leftover turkey cranberry sandwiches on challah bread. long tube rides into town with headphones firmly jammed in, reading discarded Metros and staring at women in long fur coats and thick accents. smoking out of the window of an attic, looking back at him, sitting in his room, in his childhood home and feeling so much love, so much that i could only either giggle or cry. dancing to music i thought only belonged to me and then being delighted when i wasn't the only one joining in on the chorus. the giddiness that comes from belonging, finally, to something. even if just for two weeks.

london remains my friends. and it better had.

hope you all had a great christmas and new year's too. you know mine couldn't get any better. i can't claim to be anything other than extremely lucky.

7 comments:

Nashe^ said...

Aahh London. There's just something about that city, isn't there.

Lucie said...

Yesterday: Haircut, dinner out in town on a weekday (alone! yes! I'm an empowered woman and I can dine out alone, ha!), waiting for a delayed Tube (adverse weather conditions), passing time making out the outline of "Picadilly Circus" with my finger while an impossibly hot guy stands next to me, and then the busker starts playing "Moon River" ... Yeah, London. I love it. Love your writing too!

km said...

Promise us you have enough stories for ten more posts like this?

Sam said...

Its a wonderful city!! The tube, the pubs, oxford street, canary wharf, square mile, victoria, south ken, hyde park... and now the snow :)
The style, the pomp, the grandeur, the myriad world of contradictions that's London - its addictive!!

The Constant Critic said...

Everything said and done I am so happy to see that you are back! :)

kira said...

even more determined to somehow go to London this year after reading your post :)

Anonymous said...

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/article7007022.ece

in case you didn't already know.